Hopelessly Addicted to Q-Tips

Z

Zekest Crowe

New member
I am hopelessly addicted to using q-tips when cleaning my guns. I don't know what I would do during a q-tip shortage.

I use a plier to flatten them to clean the slide channels. I bend them in odd angles to reach hard to clean areas. And use them, dipped in Hoppes #9 to clean everything.

Am I alone in this?
Is there a 3 step-program for me?
 
Nope, I use the same method. And I think it's a 12 step program you're looking for.
Of course, 3 steps is a little easier I guess :D
 
Hide your man card and venture into the cosmetics section. Look for 'Swisspers'. They're more dense than spun cotton qtips and come in various shapes.
 
And use them, dipped in Hoppes #9 to clean everything.
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Thought you might want to know, Hoppes is hard on your ears. :eek:

You're not alone. When my wife buys a box of Q-Tips for the bathroom, she automatically buys a box for the 'gun cleaning' room.

Hey...if I start cleaning the guns in the bathroom, we could buy just one big box. ;)
 
I figured I wasn't alone in the 'Q tip fettish'. The tool suppliers for my profession (Snap on, Mac, Matco, etc.....) have bags of wooden stemmed cotton swabs of all different sizes. The largest of the bunch are excellent for mag wells.
 
I use cotton swabs for gun-cleaning and prefer the rolled paper sticks over the wood (which break too frequently) or plastic (which are too flexible).

If you like cotton swabs, you might take a look at some of the products by Bear Metal Clean. They have a variety of different sizes and tip shapes and are very tightly wound so they don't fray and come apart.

I still use plain old grocery store cotton swabs for most stuff, but it's nice to have the "premium" swabs on hand for some things.
 
I keep em in the box as well...

I use an old, massive tackle box to store all the gun cleaning supplies, and rather than drop some in a compartment, I keep a box of 500 in there.

They work great for hard to reach areas, especially for light cleaning when you aren't stripping the guns all the way down to pieces and just field stripping them.
 
I still use plain old grocery store cotton swabs for most stuff, but it's nice to have the "premium" swabs on hand for some things.
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Aye.
I kept making fun of the G-Tip swabs, and the "idiots" that would pay so much for cotton swabs. ...until they were on mega-clearance at Midway and I picked up a package of 200-250 of the mid-size pointed swabs for less than $1.

They are now an absolute necessity in my gun cleaning gear, and some have found their way into the auto-repair section of my garage.

Good stuff. ;)
 
Great thread, I LOL'd because I am with ya buddy....

I recently picked up an extra batch of like 500 infant/baby q-tips last time I was at Babies R Us (for my kid) because they seem much more firm and hold together despite lots of twisting and pulling.

I probably burn through 20 of them per cleaning...specially when I have extra time to REALLY get into all the little receiver parts or break down the firing pin channel in my semi's. Also shop towels are a hot item in my cleaning case. I always give the guns a nice, thorough, dry cleaning with shop towels before I touch them with anything else.
 
I use cotton swabs for gun-cleaning and prefer the rolled paper sticks over the wood (which break too frequently) or plastic (which are too flexible).
Click to expand...

Have found the rolled paper sticks on the Q-Tips to be just the right size for cleaning certain areas as well as the cotton swab parts as well. They don't last long as they will come unraveled and leave debris but work short time.
 
At a gun show last year,,,

At a gun show last year,,,
There was a little boy selling baggies of Q-Tips,,,
His Dad said he charges exactly double the price of the baggie and Q-tips.

Hey, I bought a dollar bag from the kid,,,
His Pop says he's saving up for his first .22 rifle,,,
I'm a sucker for cute kids running lemonade stands as well.

This is not a new thing by any means,,,
Part of my issued tool kit in the Air Force was cotton swabs.

Aarond

.
 
Zekest Crowe said:
Is there a 3 step-program for me?
Click to expand...

Well, not exactly a 3-step program, but Costco sells Q-Tips in 3-packs!

I always have a box of Q-Tips on my reloading/cleaning bench. They're the best thing I've found for cleaning in the nooks and crannies since the invention of ... well, since the invention of the Q-Tip! :)
 
I lucked out in that my Dads wife gave my wife a gallon bag full of em. She had bought them for a class thing (she's a teacher) and ended up not using them. I have enough to last me to Armageddon. :D

I would love to have those longer ones from the Dr office though. Those would be great in rifle chambers. Just can't bring myself to buy em when I have that big bag at home.
 
I use a whole bunch of Q-tips. They are excellent, excellent cleaning tools. The only irritating part is that you have to keep a pair of tweezers on hand to get wisps of cotton out when springs/extractors catch them.
 
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